Pokemon: Songs of the Wind
by CCM30
Summary: Kai has lived his entire life in Wildsbreath. When the armies of the Three Nations arrive in his town, Kai's life changes forever. Alongside his friends, Kai begins a miraculous adventure to unlock the secrets of his land and unite his people before a new war tears the entire continent apart.


**Pokemon**

**Songs of the Wind**

* * *

Chapter 1  
Opening the Wind Gate

* * *

**The Wildscliff [Wildsbreath – Wind Gate]**

_The edge of the village of Wildsbreath, one of the many towns of the Wind Gate. The jagged cliff overlooked the sea to the east of the Wind Gate, and beyond that, the never-ending storm called the God's Fury._

* * *

The Windkeeper was off his rhythm. He'd soon learn why, but not just yet.

Standing at his side was his **Xatu**, rigid and stoic as a statue. The mystic Pokemon watched the battle with sharp, unblinking eyes. The Windkeeper often found himself wishing he were blessed with those same eyes. Not that they'd do him much good without the mind of Xatu, though.

The Windkeeper was named after several of his fathers and grandfathers before him – **Martes**. What he lacked in muscle tone and weight, he well made up for in height, charm, and a prowess for battling. He was the ambassador of Wildsbreath, and at many times the ambassador for the entire Wind Gate region. This was one of those times.

But just not at the moment. At this moment, Martes had a battle to win.

"Skarmory, use Steel Wing!" Martes' **Skarmory** soared over the cliff, chasing down its opponent with ferocious tenacity. Its prey – a stocky **Braviary**, one that was just fast enough to stay out of Skarmory's range. Each swipe of Skarmory's iron wings whiffed, time and time again.

Across from Martes, another man shouted directions at the Braviary. He stood just as tall as lean as Martes, but his face was studded with grizzly stubble that was practically begging for a razor. "Braviary, just like we practiced!"

Skarmory went for another Steel Wing, and another. With each attempt, Braviary was slowing down, allowing Skarmory back into its effective range.

Martes caught it quickly. "Braviary's letting you get close! Wrap this up!"

That's all Skarmory needed. Sure enough, Skarmory's next Steel Wing whiffed, but my mere inches. As Skarmory swung its wing, Braviary dodged and slipped right back toward Skarmory. The rising thermal columns above the sea sent both birds to even high speeds, sending them well above the village and into the blinding light of the sun.

Braviary ducked back in, looking to punish Skarmory's whiffed Steel Wing with a devastating Brave Bird attack. Skarmory was well ahead of the valiant Pokemon, but still took the attack. The blow glanced off Skarmory, instead merely shredding off a layer of steel from its chest. _Autotomize_. Skarmory became a blur, practically teleporting behind Braviary as it still hung in recoil from its Brave Bird attempt.

_KTOOMPH _– a Steel Wing finally hit home. Villagers of Wildsbreath might've thought a meteor had struck the planet with the sound the impact made. Braviary plummeted to the ground with a terrifying velocity, disappearing in a plume of dirt and grass.

Skarmory circled high above like a vulture waiting to dissect a carcass. When the dirt cloud cleared, Braviary reappeared in a daze. Underneath, an out-stretched **Garchomp** winced in pain, having stifled Braviary's fall as much as it could.

"Great save, Garchomp." Martes' opponent walked forward, cloak wildly whipping in the wind, desperate to hang on to the man's bony frame. "That Skarmory is no joke, Martes."

The two shook hands. Without knowing better, you'd think they intended to tear each other's arms off. Martes couldn't help but smile. "Had to practice hard to beat Braviary. We barely got it done."

Martes' opponent was **Pavel**, the Commander of the Wind Gate Militia. The two battled often in practice, but it was no coincidence that they were both in Wildsbreath on this day. "Next time I'll give Garchomp a turn," Pavel laughed.

Martes smiled. "I'm sure Xatu would enjoy that." He chuckled again as Xatu gave a slow, affirmative nod, as if it already knew that day would come. The sharp, toothy maw of Garchomp had no chance of penetrating Xatu's confidence.

The two looked away from Wildscliff and back out at the rest of Wildsbreath. The cliff was raised just enough so anyone could the village from end to end, from cliffside to the edge of the windwoods, where trees with dancing golden leaves encroached on the boundary of the village. Autumn had just cozied itself up in the small village only a few weeks prior, bringing with it a snap of cool, crisp air that carried the smells of baked goods and tended fireplaces all along the coast.

Wildsbreath was just one of many villages in the Wind Gate, but it was the most easternly of them all. The Wind Gate, and so too Wildsbreath, were aptly named – the region was a neutral barrier between the nations of the continent and a natural, perpetual phenomenon just off the coast. There you could find the God's Fury, as people of the Wind Gate called it – a massive, never-ending storm brewing just over the sea adjacent to Wildsbreath. The storm never moved in position, and never gave up in strength.

It was truly an awe inspiring spectacle to behold, and a frightening one for anyone not of the Wind Gate. What if it came to shore? What if it got bigger? Stronger? Wildsbreath and the rest of the Wind Gate never worried. The storm had been surging in the same place for generations. They didn't expect that to change anytime soon. Although, if you asked someone from within the nations, they might have felt a bit different.

And now those nations were making their way to Wildsbreath. Martes and Pavel looked beyond Wildsbreath, beyond the windwoods that laid next to it, and onto the horizon. There they saw the approaching armies of the Three Nations. On this day, the Three Nations would be hosted by Martes, Pavel, and the rest of Wildsbreath for the National Summit.

The continent of Tandreida was separated into five regions. Of those five regions, three made up the Three Nations: the capitalist society of the **Radiant Company **in the south, the only region governed by a corporation; the monarchy of the **Gold Kingdom** at the center of the continent; and to the north, the theocracy of the **Shrine**. On either side of these three nations were two neutral regions – at the east, the **Wind Gate**. And at the west, the **Desperation**. The Desperation was neutral solely in that it was too treacherous to inhabit. The wasteland was said to be the land of a mighty kingdom generations ago, especially by the Shrine and its disciples, but now it was home only to extremely dangerous Pokemon that scoured day and night for fresh prey. The Three Nations agreed that none of them would ever try to take the Desperation, per a treaty, but not everyone was happy with that arrangement.

The National Summit kept the peace between the Three Nations, allowing their leaders to speak freely and come to whatever agreements they saw fit. Naturally, this also meant that this was the perfect opportunity for a leader to bring something new to the table. Or for something completely unexpected to catch them off-guard, all at the same time.

Martes sighed as he looked at the approaching armies. It'd been four years since the last summit, but maybe not long enough for Martes. Four years was not long enough to go without seeing another army or even another soldier. If the Three Nations were to want to move the location of the summit, Martes would've probably scouted the whole continent by himself for a new location. Nothing would've delighted him more than never seeing the Three Nations in the Wind Gate, let alone in Wildsbreath, ever again.

The windwoods shook violently as a bout of wind raced through and into the village, almost as if they were waving the armies off, to not enter the area. Not an omen Martes was fond of seeing at the moment.

"What is it?" Pavel finally asked Martes. "You're mulling something over, not blabbering my ear off. That's never good."

Martes searched for the right words. When he finally found them, he hesitated. "Come here," Martes said, gesturing back to the cliff.

They strode back to the edge. If anyone in the village could hear what they were saying, taken a few more steps back in the cliff's direction wasn't going to change that. But Martes insisted.

"Alright, Marty. Something is _definitely_ up with you. Did you cheat in our battle or something?" Pavel laughed. "I knew that's the only way you could've won."

"Last month, scouts reported that the God's Fury was weakening."

"Weakening?" Pavel quickly realized how loud he'd exclaimed and reeled it in. "Like, the storm is slowing down?"

"Last week I got similar reports. And today, as well," Martes said.

Pavel threw his gaze over at the storm. Its perpetual spin was as unrelenting as ever. "Doesn't look any different to me."

"Looks can be deceiving," Martes replied coldly.

Pavel furrowed his brow. "And you thought you'd wait until _today_ to tell me?"

Martes looked back out at the horizon. The Three Nations armies had eclipsed the horizon and were now approaching the windwoods before Wildsbreath. "I'm sorry, obviously the timing isn't good. But I didn't want to jump the gun," Martes said. "Not until I had enough information."

Pavel could read Martes' face like any one of his many military textbooks. "You're not going to tell them are you?"

"What happens if I tell the leaders of the Three Nations that the storm is ending, and then it doesn't?" Martes bit at a fingernail. "What if I tell them it's ending while they're still here, and they decide to occupy my home? Then I'll have three armies stationed in Wildsbreath waiting to see the weather forecast."

"_If_ it leaves anything behind," Pavel pointed out. "We don't even know if there's anything in that storm. Could just be more water, just like the rest of the ocean."

"They want to know as much as anybody else, if not more," Martes said. "They won't leave until they find out if there's something hiding in the storm. And if something _is_ there, they'll go to war over it. Right in my own backyard. I won't have that."

Skarmory finally came down from the skies. Its chest glowed faintly as its steel armor repaired itself from the Autotomize. It bristled its metal feathers with glee, making sure Braviary was in full view for the show.

"Skarmory, Xatu, let's go. I need to finish preparing for the summit." Martes shook Pavel's hand once more, then turned on his heel.

"So what are you going to say?" Pavel asked.

Martes turned back, face washed with uncertainty. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

* * *

**Below the Wildscliff [Wildsbreath – Wind Gate]**

_The Wildscliff was the edge of the region, and the edge of the continent, overlooking the vast sea and the God's Fury just before it. At the base of the cliff, a long beach ran along the coast, laden with fine white sand._

* * *

Despite the storm less than a league away, the coming tide was oddly tranquil. Gentle waves lapped upon the white beach, smothering several trails of footsteps until they were flush again with the rest of the beach.

The steps trailed a rambunctious group as they howled at the wind, dancing in the sand amongst one another, splashing themselves at the edge of the water whenever the tide came back in.

At the back of the pack was **Hugo**, lumbering along with long legs and an even longer face. Sand wisped up into his short, wavy brown here, joining flecks of yellow and orange in each strand. He was flanked by a spritely **Yanma**, while his **Wingull** coasted along the sea from thermal to thermal.

In front of him, the agile **Nami**. Her steps in the sand were deeper than the others, so much so you would think they were Hugo's despite their difference in body size. Each stride she took was as if it were her last. She raced ahead with glee, cradling a young **Rowlet** in her arms. In sharp contrast to her light, airy beach clothes, she had a leather pauldron strapped to her left shoulder. Upon it, an attentive **Hoot-Hoot** clung to Nami with sharp claws, drinking in the landscape with amazingly large eyes.

Nami raced ahead, loping towards a bank of slick, moss-covered rocks that jutted past the shore and out into the ocean for several yards. The head of the pack was all but hers now. Sunlight cascaded down her face, highlighting her rosy cheeks. She slowed down just before leaping onto the rocks. It was hard to ignore the warm embrace of the sun, especially in a place where cool breezes became colder winds in no time.

She passed the final member of the group. He had a passing resemblance of Martes the Windkeeper, but none of his grace. It seemed like the sand would swallow him whole every time he planted a foot in it. He was followed only by a sole **Drifloon**, although followed would be generous. The gentle balloon twirled in the wind with its stringy arms spun around like a top, and it didn't seem very concerned about arriving at any particular destination.

He finally stopped, letting Hugo catch up. This was **Kai**. He had other things on his mind, but for now, it'd have to wait. He hoped Nami's rocks would be a good enough distraction.

"Come on, it's just over here!" Nami shouted. She made her way onto the rocks. The constant splash of waves kept them slick, and the beds of moss were less stable than they looked. That didn't stop Nami from lunging from rock to rock as fast as she could. By the time Kai and Hugo got to the first rock, Nami was already on the last. "I see it, guys! Hurry!"

Hugo huffed and puffed. He didn't seem out of shape, but this run certainly didn't provide a good case against that. "What do you think it is?"

Kai scoffed. "Probably seaweed again. But, knowing Nami, it'll be some huge Pokemon that we just _barely_ missed because we didn't get there in time."

Hugo looked down the long path of rocks, dreading the additional exercise that was to come. "Yeah. I can see that happening," Hugo sighed.

But when they did make it to Nami there, they were pleasantly surprised. Dots of shadows just beneath the surface became a school of Remoraid. With them, pods of Mantyke simmering below, and much larger Mantine above breached the surface. The ocean became a piano as the Mantine breached, then dropped below the surface one by one like hammers on the strings. The Mantine seemed to slow down just to give the kids a better view.

"Aren't they amazing? They're so beautiful," Nami remarked. Even Kai couldn't disagree with that.

But he could ruin the moment. "Why are they so close to the shore?"

"Jeez, Kai. Can't just appreciate this for what it is?" Hugo said flippantly.

Kai looked over at Nami. "Have you ever seen Mantine this close to shore?"

Nami searched for an answer. "I guess not. But I've been seeing these shadows over here for weeks now. Maybe they finally got comfortable going to the surface."

Hugo raised at eyebrow at Kai. "What?" Kai threw his arms up. "I'm just saying. Mantine stay in open waters. I've never seen them this close."

"Yeah, it's not like people don't ride them between the Hundred Islands," Hugo said sarcastically. "It's not that weird."

Suddenly, the Mantine and all the rest disappeared. They breached, and never came back up. All at once, the shadows slipped away back into the depths of the ocean.

Nami groaned. "You scared them away. Next time I'm coming by myself."

"Next time maybe we can _battle_ like I've been asking all week," Kai said.

"Again with the battling." Nami's voice trailed off.

"Yeah," Hugo continued where Nami left off. "What's _with_ you, Kai? All you want to do is battle lately. Fine, if you want to battle, let's do it. I've got Yanma and Wingull."

Kai stepped up to Hugo. "No. I want you to battle me because you_ want _to battle me. I shouldn't have to coerce you."

"And why should we want to battle you?" Nami asked. "All you have is Drifloon anyway."

"Not true, and you know that." Kai looked at them both, but was only greeted with bewilderment. He exhaled sharply. "Do you want to live in Wildsbreath your whole lives? Don't you want to amount to something?

Nami shot him a harsh glare. "...Not that you won't amount to anything," Kai said. "But the Three Nations are almost here. They brought their entire armies with them. We could _prove _ourselves to them. Maybe they don't recruit us now, but when we're older-"

"That's what this is about?" Hugo interjected. "If you want to be cannon fodder, I'm sure there's a form you can sign."

"What I _want_..." Kai said. "What I want is to be the next Windkeeper. The best Windkeeper there's ever been,"

For what seemed like something that took a lot of courage to declare, it phased Nami and Hugo very little. "Why do you have to prove yourself, then? Your dad is the Windkeeper. You'll be the next Windkeeper. I'm sure that's what they have planned for you," Nami said.

Hugo couldn't help but chuckle. "And hasn't your dad lived in Wildsbreath his whole life?"

"Exactly," Kai said, face flushed. "I want to be a better Windkeeper. Better than him. More useful to the Three Nations than he has ever been. The Three Nations use the Wind Gate to wipe their feet, but when I'm the Windkeeper, I'll do what Pavel and my dad never been able to do."

"Get rid of you?" Hugo laughed again.

"Unite all the people of the Wind Gate." Nami and Hugo had never heard Kai speak so seriously. "Then we'd become the Fourth Nation. And I'd lead us alongside the other nations."

Nami elbowed him in the ribs. "Very diplomatic. Hopefully your words do better than your legs." Kai smiled and sighed. That's all the energy he had to spare. Maybe they'd listen one day.

With that, Nami bounded back around the rocks, peering over their edges for more shadows in the water.

The God's Fury seemed to loom over them from afar. Kai felt like it was getting closer as if to listen in on their conversation. Nothing in this part of the world came close to being as astounding a sight as the storm was. Nothing was quite as terrifying either.

Hugo pulled Kai by his shoulder back in his direction. "Trying to impress Nami, huh?" Hugo snorted.

Kai tore himself away. "I meant what I said."

"You really think you could do all of that? We don't know anything about leaving our own village let alone trying to unite everyone." Hugo said.

Kai scratched his head. "I don't know, man. It's just a feeling. I don't know. I can't I can't stop thinking about it."

Hugo clapped Kai on the shoulder again. "Just don't do something and drag us into it. I'm trying to enjoy what little remains of my summer ." Kai couldn't help but smile, knowing it was well past the start of autumn.

"Hey guys, they're back!" Hugo and Kai saw Nami trotting the perimeter of the rocks, leaning closer to the surface to get a closer look. By the time Hugo and Kai joined her, they all had a much better view of what was approaching.

It wasn't a group of shadows, but an individual shadow. One growing in size as it got closer and closer to the surface.

A tuft of hair. The back of a head. Then shoulders and limp arms. Bubbles popped at the surface from underneath.

"Oh my god!" Nami cried. "Quick, help me." Kai and Hugo were instantly at her side, hoisting the body onto the rocks as quickly, yet gently as possible. Even for the three of them, the body was entirely dead weight, and laying anything upon the uneven rocks without it slipping back into the sea was easier said than done.

Finally they had him up safely. The man gurgled and choked on seawater - he was still breathing, but barely. Every gulp of air was followed by strained coughing and bursts of water and spittle.

They truly had no idea what to do, instead they gawked at the man as he caught his breath.

Kai leaned in closer. "Are you okay? What's your name?" No response, but Kai tried again, eager to get something out of him. He'd seen his father speak to the sick this way. But never from a man washed ashore. Kai had to make due with what learning he did have. "Can you tell me what day it is?"

The man coughed again, expelling more water than before. Now his breathing seemed to steady, so Kai leaned in even closer. Hushed syllables drooled out of the man's mouth. It was just enough to spur Kai to lean in once again.

Kai stuck two fingers in his mouth and blew. A deep bellow replied from over the cliff. Moments later, a large silhouette flew before the sun and began circling toward the beach. This was Kai's **Tropius**, arriving just in time.

Just as Kai moved in, the man grabbed him by the back of the neck, forcing him closer. His whisper drilled right into the core of Kai's mind.

"The storm is dying. _**But the temple lives**_."

* * *

**Home of the Windkeeper [Wildsbreath – Wind Gate]**

_For generations, the Windkeeper has acted as the ambassador of Wildsbreath to the Three Nations. When the summit of the Three Nations commences, the Windkeeper is called upon to represent the entire Wind Gate region. Dire times require the same call. The people of Wildsbreath hold this position in high regard. As a result, each Windkeeper is bestowed the Home of the Windkeeper, which is passed from one Windkeeper to the next. The current Windkeeper, Martes, lives in the Home of the Windkeeper with his son Kai._

* * *

For Kai, Nami, and Hugo, the only storm in Wildsbreath was in Kai's home.

Tropius flew low against the beach, slowly inching higher toward the edge of the cliff while moving laterally. The less sudden movement the better. Once on land again, the three carried the man as quickly as they could to the Home of the Windkeeper. Martes had not come home yet, and the Home of the Windkeeper was fairly isolated from the rest of the village. Getting him into the house without any witnesses was one thing, but treating him was entirely another.

They had no idea where to begin. Hugo pressed on the man's chest haphazardly. He'd seen his mother perform a rhythmic procedure on his sister several years prior when she had an allergy attack, but his replication of it was laughable. Nami raced around the house, looking for something with which to poke with or stab or drain or anything that could help. Kai shook the man's head side to side, drawing that experience from who knows where.

"Uhh...uhhhh." Hugo was already at a loss. "Here, Kai, help me roll him on his side."

They did, and Hugo began to pat the man's back with a gentle hand as if he were a baby in need of burping.

"What're you doing?" Kai said of Hugo's light technique.

"I-I don't want to hurt him," Hugo said.

"I'm sure he won't care as long as he's not _dead_," Nami shouted from across the room.

Hugo looked back at Kai. Kai gave his friend as sure of a look as he could and nodded. Hugo patted the man's back once more, a harder pat each time.

As he went for another, Martes and Pavel stepped in the door.

Kai's eyes widened. "Dad?!" His fright jumped right to Hugo, who reflexively clapped the man as hard as he could. As it turned out, the strike was just right. The man coughed and heaved. He erupted with saltwater until he could finally gasp for air again.

"Kai, what is going on? Who is this man?" Martes asked abruptly.

"Seems a bit old to be playing with your kids, Marty." Pavel quipped.

Kai and Hugo immediately stood up, arms and hands to their sides. Nami quickly joined them having given up her search for a miracle medical device.

"We're sorry, sir." Hugo and Mami said in unison.

"He washed up at the beach," Kai said. "We were only trying to help him. We didn't know what to do."

Martes panned over the rest of the room. No sign of forced entry. No sign of other adults. Just sand and puddles of water at his doorstep, and some disheveled man slumped in his foyer.

His boy and his friends, sure they were teenagers now, but to Martes they were still kids. He felt lucky to live in Wildsbreath. He knew he couldn't shelter Kai and his friends from the rest of the world, but he didn't take living in one of the farthest corners of the continent for granted. He hoped to show Kai the world when he was ready, just like his father did before him. Now he feared that the world was done waiting for Kai. Or maybe Kai became ready for the world without Martes ever realizing it. At least, not until now.

Martes hoped he was just some random man. Maybe a drunkard who fell into the water and couldn't swim back to shore. Or someone who lost their way on the high seas. A sailor accidentally thrown overboard. A diver with too much ambition. _Something_ that could be explained.

The pit in his stomach told him it wasn't any of those things.

"Doesn't look like anyone from Wildsbreath," Pavel said, still standing at the door. Martes nodded, and Pavel was right. People from Wildsbreath wore light clothing - airy garments that billowed freely in the wind. When the winds picked up, firm leathers were worn. Nobody had the need for plated armor.

Indeed, a soldier was Pavel's initial thought. He'd never seen a soldier of the Three Nations dressed this way, but he knew a soldier when he saw one. Knights of the Gold Kingdom wore armor, but it was clean, dignified, and bore insignia of many houses and lords. This man's armor was dented, unrefined, and marked by battle rather than any sign or lineage.

Whether or not the Peace Corps of the Radiant Company lived up to the "peace" part of their name was certainly up for debate. But they did dress in a less menacing or knightly manner. They wore berets. Their chests were embossed by corporate logos. This man had not a single ounce of that.

And certainly he wasn't one of the Shrine, nor a member of the Sentinel's Omniguard, his personal security team. All followers of the Shrine wore simple garbs and robes. You wouldn't know they were soldiers at first glance. They all pray. They all worship. They all dress alike. It's only until you're disappeared or locked away that you find out who's armed and who's not. This man wasn't one of them either.

Pavel scratched the scruff of his chin. He had questions, but they were the same as Martes, so he let him take the lead.

"What is your name?" Martes said as he crouched down, meeting the man at eye level.

The man coughed again, almost in spasm. "Tetro," he replied. "**Tetro M'Kulym**"

_M'Kyulm_. Where had Martes heard that name before?

Another fit of coughing and wheezing put Tetro flat on his back. Although Martes and Pavel kept their guard up for the kids' sake, he was apparently no threat to anybody but maybe the sanctity of Martes' furniture.

Pavel read the room quite well. "Come on, guys. Let's get you to the Soaring Hall. I'm sure the Windkeeper has a lot to do before the summit begins."

Martes nodded to Kai, letting him know it was alright to go with Pavel. "He said something to me when we found him," Kai said as Pavel ushered them out. He didn't want to say outright what he was told. Part of Kai was just as suspicious as his father was. If the man was trying to deceive them, they'd easily figure it out if he told Martes something different than what he told Kai. But it'd be such a simple, contestable play. If he was truly trying to deceive them, would it do it in such a way that could easily be exposed?

That was if he had any intent to deceive at all. Martes intended to find out.

"What did you tell my son?" Martes asked.

Tetro propped himself up against a carved windwood table. His eyes were practically glazed over by now. The mere sight of him was confusing enough for Martes let alone whatever he had said to Kai. Tetro's plate armor had to weigh at least thirty to forty pounds, yet the man himself looked barely over a hundred pounds sopping wet - which he indeed was. He looked almost malnourished. Martes felt the uncertainty brewing in his mind. There's no way this man could swim very far in this condition with that much weight on him. Yet, here he was.

Tetro's lips pursed. Scars ran up and down his face like lines on a map. "The storm is dying," he said. "But the temple. The damn temple lives."

"That's what Kai said he told him." Martes had stepped back into the room without Martes noticing one bit. The uncertainty continued to brew in Martes. Pavel wasn't one to be sneaky. But all he'd done was step back in the door. Hardly anything to think about. "They ran ahead of me. I wasn't about to work up a sweat to chase them down. Kai's leading them to the Soaring Hall, at least I hope," Pavel said with a shrug.

Martes resumed his interrogation. "Where are you from? What else do you know about the storm?"

Tetro repeated himself, and then again when questioned once more. Realization struck Martes. This was all he was going to get out of the man. _The storm is dying_. That much he knew. _The temple lives_. That struck him in his deepest, darkest fears. He might've been one of the few people hoping there _wasn't_ anything hidden in that storm. For everyone else, there was a sense of discovery, a feeling of the new, the uncovering of something never seen before. Surely there _must _be something hidden in that storm, people always thought. A great landmass. A giant Pokemon. _Something_. Martes knew it would only bring conflict. It was easy to ignore that when you could savor the drama the situation. That is, it was easy for everyone else, but not for Martes.

Martes stood back up, running knobby fingers through his salt and pepper locks. He turned to Pavel. He had just as little to say as Martes.

When it seemed like Pavel finally found the right words, the door burst open once more.

"My sincerest apologies for the intrusion, Windkeeper." A young messenger had a message they were eager to deliver. He bowed quickly to Martes, then to Pavel. "Commander."

Martes waved off the pleasantries. "The Three Nations have finally arrived."

"They have," the messenger said. "Shall the Soaring Hall send for them?"

Getting this summit over and done with as quickly as possible was just a pipedream. But Martes knew it'd be a drawn out affair, like it always was. The summit wasn't just the meeting. When the armies came into town every four years, Wildsbreath became a festival of sorts. Soldiers and officers mingled with the locals. Vendors of all kinds came from every corner of the Wind Gate in hopes of showing off their inventory to the foreigners. Warm smells of delicacies from all across the continent filled the air. It was the perfect facade for an otherwise tedious, political event.

"Not yet," Martes continued. "Let them settle in. Best not to rush our guests after their long travel."

With that, the messenger disappeared. Once he did, Pavel didn't hesitate. "You're going to tell them about this man, right?"

Martes kept his mouth shut.

"Look, the reports were one thing. That, that I get," Pavel continued. "But this is something the Three Nations needs to know about. A man washed ashore today speaking in cryptics. It's not just a bunch of unconfirmed reports anymore."

"You want me to take the word of this person nobody knows, who came from who knows where, working for who knows who, intending to do who knows what? You could take me as overly suspicious, Pav, but I won't be taken for a fool," Martes said firmly.

"You can't hide him here forever," Pavel pointed out.

Martes specified. "But I can hide him here until the summit is over. Then we can figure out what to do with him."

"And what if the Three Nations find out you're harboring this man while the summit is happening, and you didn't tell them?" Pavel said.

"They won't find out," Martes replied. "They don't need to be jumping to conclusions. They don't need to know about what is or isn't happening here. Not until we've figured it out ourselves."

This answer clearly didn't sit well with Pavel. Although he didn't take orders from the Three Nations, as the Commander of the Wind Gate Militia he felt a nagging obligation to share the truth.

"Pavel," Martes said, looking him dead in the eyes. "You must not tell _anybody_ about this man. Not the leaders of the Three Nations. Not anybody in town. Not your wife. _Nobody_. We keep this between us until the summit has passed."

"What about the kids?" Pavel asked. "Kai and his friends knew about him before we did."

Martes exhaled sharply. "I'll take care of them." He stepped closer to Pavel, eyes wavering.

"Please, Pavel. Promise me you won't tell anybody. Can you do that?"


End file.
